On March 6, the lower church at St. Patrick Parish hummed with a cacophony of reed instruments called “practice chanters” and a staccato of drum-sticks hitting practice pads, all to Celtic melodies and beats.
Author: Bill Miller
Fasting Through the Ages: A Journey from the Apostles to Lent
Directives on how to fast during Lent have evolved over time, but the reason for it is unchanged — to draw closer to God.
Easter in Iraq: Deacon Recalls His Military Journey of Sacrifice, Service
For John Williams, then a Marine serving in Iraq, the 2004 Easter Triduum bore no spiritual revival — or so he thought. On Holy Thursday of that year (April 8), his unit got orders to join Operation Vigilant Resolve, also known as the First Battle of Fallujah.
A Beacon of Hope Amidst Immigration Policy Change
For more than six decades, Msgr. James Kelly’s law office on Wyckoff Avenue has handled standing-room-only crowds of clients seeking U.S. citizenship.
The Unsung Hero Behind Brooklyn’s First Black Catholic Community
In 1915, a group of black Catholics met at a home on Pacific Street in Prospect Heights, across from what is today the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph. The Spanish Colonial-style church with two bell towers was completed just three years earlier to replace the previous parish church, which was built in 1861, the same year the American Civil War began.
Frassati Fellowship of NYC Unites to Travel for Mission Work in Remote Communities
Although the island of Jamaica’s mission field is vast, one Manhattan-based Catholic group has taken it upon itself to concentrate on a single community — St. Theresa’s Parish in the northeastern coastal town of Annotto Bay.
Anne Frank’s Legacy: A Journey Through the ‘Secret Annex’ in New York and a Woman’s Fight To Share Anne’s Diary
In August 1944, Miep Gies opened the “secret annex” in her employer’s office building where Nazis had just arrested her boss, Otto Frank, who was hiding there with his family — wife Edith and daughters Margot and Anne.
Panelists Discuss Spiritual Journeys of Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati
Two young men from Italy to be canonized this year still prove that holiness is not just for saints, according to a panel discussion on Feb. 16 at the annual Catholic conference, the New York Encounter.
How a Son of Former Slaves Became the Rockefeller of New York City’s Oyster Restaurants
Thomas Downing — a freeman born to formerly enslaved people in Virginia — became one of the city’s wealthiest citizens as the proprietor of his world-famous oyster restaurant in Lower Manhattan.
Could a Former Slave Who Defied Danger Join the Saintly Six on Path to Sainthood?
In 1878, yellow fever swept the lower Mississippi Valley, bringing chaos and killing an estimated 5,000 people in Memphis, Tennessee.